Crush Them
by BattlefrontJournals
Summary: Lieutenant Zip and his trusted team of 501st stormtroopers embark on a deadly mission to capture a high priority Rebel Alliance official.
1. Vader's Bidding

"Crush Them"  
(Lieutenant Zip's Entry)  
[Chapter 1, Vader's Bidding]

Lord Vader's voice darkly lurked into my helmet comm, "The rebels are hiding a high priority Alliance official, Movko Jelkins, inside a remote outpost in the far east sectors of Tatooine. To insure victory and capture of the Alliance traitors, my Flagship, The Devastator, will fire an array of EMP weapons upon the newly discovered Alliance outpost. Once the electronic systems in their base are disabled, your 501st squadron may take immediate action against the scum without any inside detection..." Vader paused, causing tension between us. "There can be no mistakes Lieutenant. I do not take failure lightly. Is this understood?" He finished, his voice booming. Immediately giving Lord Vader confirmation, I responded, "Your orders will be completed, Lord Vader. There will be no mistakes. I've trained my men well. We will strike fear into the Rebel Alliance all across by seizing this figure of importance, Movko Jelkins..." Pleased with my answer, Vader replied with an impressed tone, "The capture of Ambassador Jelkins may change the tide of the war in our favor, Lieutenant. The information he possesses must be ours. Ready your men. Prepare to land on Tatooine." Our communication ended, and my mission began...


	2. The Hangar Bay

Immediately after my transmission ended with Lord Vader, I made my way to the Devastators hangar bay. As I strolled through the star destroyers glossy black halls for a final time before my mission, I thought of my time served for the Republic during the Clone Wars. I felt reminiscent of years gone by. The friends who had come and gone. I missed many of my original 501st buddies. Best fighters I knew. Captain Rex, Fives, Echo, Dogma, and Appo. Just to name a few. Suddenly, derailing my train of thought, an Imperial Officer began barking orders in my direction, "Trooper, trooper! You may not enter the hangar bay without identifying your mission ID number!" Collecting my senses, I sighed, "761209." The officer investigated my number on a data pad thoroughly then cleared me for access. "Trooper CT-26815, you are clear for hangar bay access. Your Lambda-class shuttle awaits for you in ship slot 17." I thanked the high strung officer, then began making my way to my shuttle. As I searched for the Lambda, I heard a familiar voice yelling my name from behind. "Lieutenant Zip! Over here!" Whipping around, I saw my two 501st troopers waiting for me in front of our shuttle accompanied by several rookie stormtroopers. As I walked over to them, they were eager to ask many questions. But before any questions were to be answered, I first and foremost briefed them on our mission with the same seriousness Lord Vader had used while informing me...


	3. Vader's Entry (Palpatine's Speculations)

(Vader's Entry)  
[Chapter 3, Palpatine's Speculation]

My master's voice eerily crept, "Lord Vader, I fear the troopers you have assigned to this mission will fail. Despite the fact your soldiers have exceeded in the past, doesn't ensure an Imperial victory. I sense your spirit my apprentice... You have become... attached to these soldiers, have you not?" Palpatine paused, darkly gazing into my eyes. "Lord Vader... If your men are to fail, I will await their execution by your saber." He finished sharply. My conscious plummeted into confusion and distress. Following moments of silence I spoke, "My master, are you certain? These troopers have proven to be valuable assets for the Empire. Shall-" Palpatines eyes grew deranged with bitterness. He growled, "DO IT." Taking control of my apparent inner turmoil, I alleged my loyalty for my powerful master, "Yes, my master. The troopers will be executed by my hand if their mission proves to be a failure..."


	4. Desterted Arrival

(Lieutenant Zip's Entry)  
[Chapter 4, Deserted Arrival]

After briefing my loyal troopers on our high risk mission, we boarded our Lambda shuttle and began our descent to the hot, humid, coarse, and sandy planet of Tatooine. As our shuttle glided away from The Devastator, I coldly looked out of the cabin and back at the Flagship's bridge. If I'm not mistaken, I spotted a vague outline of Lord Vader observing our flight to the planet closely. Suddenly, our pilot yelled out, "Lieutenant, we're receiving a transmission, sir!" It was Vader and his officer, Tarkin. The arrogant voice of Tarkin began speaking, "Lieutenant, the firing of the EMP weapons will commence shortly. Our transmissions will be cut off temporarily. Best of luck, Zip." "Thank you, sir. You may fire when ready." I responded." "Very well." Tarkin barked. Moments after our transmission ended, The Devastator fired gigantic blue ion lasers down onto Tatooine's surface. "PEWWWW PEWWWWW!" A bright blue haze briefly filled a small portion of Tatooine's tan sandy skies, disabling all electronic systems in our targeted rebel base... We were going to crush those blasted rebels... With Vader's fist. -


	5. Dark Descent

As our shuttle broke through Tatooine's atmosphere, the familiar hum of the Lambda shuttle came to life, filling the once quiet cabin. "What's the ETA?!" I yelled to our pilot. "Two minutes, sir!" He responded. "Okay, very good! Pilot, I want you and these rookies to stay with the ship! Be prepared to contact the Devastator if anything goes wrong! Ok?!" Nodding, the pilot said, "Roger that!" I turned to my troops, "You hear that? Two minutes! Prepare for attack boys!" They all began prepping their blasters, explosives, and technical equipment. -  
The two minutes of waiting flew by, and we arrived at the targeted rebel outpost. The shuttle folded its wings, and began gliding slowly to the sandy Tatooine grounds. After the shuttle stabilized, our pilot lowered the landing ramp, letting us begin our mission. As we sprinted out of the Lambda, we stood in awe at the seemingly deserted rebel base. It was blackened and singed by the Ion fire from The Devastator. Link, one of my 501st troopers speculatively said, "Lieutenant, do you think they're still here? Seems deserted." I paused, taking in the situation, "There's only one way to find out, Link. We're going in. Get the explosives." The three of us marched up to the outposts entrance and began placing small proximity charges all over the heavy duty durasteel door. Deuce, my 501st demolition specialist synced up the detonator and began backing away from the door for safe measure... "Light it up when ready, Deuce!" I ordered. Nodding, he pressed the button on the detonation device, "BOOOOOOWMMM!" Pieces of the door went flying everywhere, followed by a cloud mixed with sand and black smoke.


	6. Blackout

After the sandy black smoke cleared, it revealed a gaping hole where the bases door once stood. "Well, the ion weapons sure worked. Look how dark it is in there!" Deuce yelled. As we peered into the abyssal darkness, I ordered my men, "Lights on boys, we're going in there. Try to be aware of your surroundings." Shaking his head, Link sighed reluctantly, "I have a baddd feeling about this..." We slowly began moving inside of the rebel infested hive in a defensive formation, awaiting the worst. As the lights shined from our E-11's, they showed we were in a vacant hallway lined with rooms. "Link, Deuce!" I whispered loudly, "Check those rooms!" Nodding in response, they began quietly opening the doors checking each room for rebels. Following minutes of noiselessness, the tense silence was broken by Deuce whispering, "Lieutenant, Link, over here!" We anxiously crept over to Deuce's room to discover it full of fried rebels. It seemed as if the EMP array from the Devastator overloaded every electronic device in the room, causing a deadly explosion. It was pretty bad. The rebels were burned beyond recognition, and their bodies sizzled softly as they lied motionless on the floor. The putrid smell of cooked flesh permeated through our helmet filters. "Everyone's dead! I'm sure Movko Jelkins is too!" Deuce shouted. "Now, wait a seco-" "CLANG!" an extremely loud clatter came from the upstairs level followed by the sound of shuffling feet and footsteps. "That's where our guy is! Be stealthy, Got it?! Now shut up and follow me!" I whispered harshly...


	7. Surprise

As I lead my team to the upstairs level, we could hear several people whispering frantically. Whoever was up there, knew we were here. -  
When we reached the top of the stairs, there was one door leading to the room that the sounds were coming from. Link murmured quietly, "Hey, what's the plan? Barge in there on three?" "No," I replied. "Anyone have a stun grenade?" In response to my question, Deuce quietly rummaged through his backpack pulling out a stun grenade, then carefully handed it to me. I hastily armed the stunner, flung open the door, then aggressively tossed it inside. In the following seconds, the room imploded with chaos. We heard heavy footsteps and screaming, "STUN GRENADE! NOOOO!" Silencing their pleas for mercy, the room flashed blue from the grenade and sent their bodies tumbling to the floor with a thud. Now speaking in a normal voice, I ordered, "Let's see if Jelkins is in there. Remember, we want him alive. Kill any other rebels that are stunned." I ripped open the door to the room and we marched in. When suddenly, out of nowhere, "BAM!" Deuce collapsed to the floor after being shot in the back. "THUD" Link hollered, "DEUCE! NOOOO!" "WHERE'S THE HOSTILE?!" I yelled while frantically aiming my E-11 around the room. Taking me by surprise, a unfamiliar voice spoke from behind me, "I'm right here." As I whipped around to face the voice, I was instantly stabbed in the stomach several times. I groaned as a collapsed to the floor, "GAFFH! LINK! HELP!" Link immediately charged the man engaging in hand to hand combat. They tussled angrily with each other, as I laid helpless on the floor clutching my bloodied stomach.


End file.
